Saves the airport $10 million by year 2033 through LEED® efficiencies.

One of the 10 busiest airports in the U.S., Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) transports nearly 40 million people annually and is the largest economic engine in the state of Arizona. Daily, PHX generates $79 million in economic impact and serves more than 1,200 aircraft and 100,000 passengers. For all its success, projected growth was standing in the way of airport operations and satisfied customers, and its existing landside transportation system was not equipped to handle the airport’s future ground transportation needs. In response, the PHX Sky Train® automated people mover (APM) system was born.

A vision of the City of Phoenix Aviation Department, the 1.92-mile-long PHX Sky Train features a transit-oriented design and links passengers between multiple ground transportation modes and the terminal. It smartly enabled airport growth by adding capacity to a severely constrained landside access network. Accomplished with a user-friendly system that improves connectivity to regional transit and roadways, the PHX Sky Train was placed into operation in 2013. One of the most forward thinking projects of our time, the PHX Sky Train has transformed ground transportation at PHX and created a world-class level of service and convenience for passengers.

What We Did

As the fixed-facilities designer of record for the PHX Sky Trainproject, Gannett Fleming designed a 1.92-mile-long elevated guideway that traverses 3,000 acres of landlocked airfields, terminals, and roadways. The project included three new elevated passenger stations and links the Phoenix region’s 44th Street Valley Metro light rail station with the airport’s economy parking area and the 88-gate Terminal 4.

Ingenuity and out-of-the-ordinary solutions were critical in addressing the logistically complex work. This unprecedented engineering feat required several first-ever design features, including the world’s first transit bridge over an active taxiway. This three-span, cast-in-place post-tensioned box girder bridge, with a 340-foot main span accommodates even a Boeing 747 aircraft. Going over the taxiway instead of under enabled designers to avoid a complex labyrinth of underground utilities and provided optimal alignment and a clean connection with Terminal 4. To accomplish this, Gannett Fleming worked with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to develop acceptable design criteria for this overpass, the first FAA-approved design criteria ever developed for such an undertaking. The guideway crosses a variety of existing infrastructure, including the Union Pacific Railroad, which required precise coordination and design considerations. We additionally created an elevated spur line connection to a maintenance facility above an existing roadway and designed an elevated 240-foot radius horizontal curve to carry the guideway into the East Economy Parking Lot.

The CM-at-Risk model supported fast-track delivery of the project. It enabled early identification and mitigation of constructability issues and allowed for overlapping design and construction processes with 31 separate design packages. As a result, the construction schedule was condensed by two years and the project was delivered $10 million under budget.

Key Features

1.92 miles of elevated guideway

Electrically powered, driverless vehicles that operate 24 hours per day

Sustainability Features & Outcomes

Three stations use 30 percent less power than established normal baselines

Recycled materials, regional materials, low-water use facilities, energy optimization, low-emitting materials, and daylight illumination is expected to save the city more than $10 million in the first 20 years of operation